Never First, Never Last
by fingertips on my warm skin
Summary: Caroline Forbes has never been first choice. She was always what was taken when the cream of the crop wasn't an option. Tyler Lockwood has never been in last place. He has always been THE best-the absolute gold upon the silver and bronze that made up Mystic Falls High. When they are together, each teen gets treated differently...and to their surprise, they like it that way. Forwood


**I've been wanting to publish a Forwood Fanfic for Forever (didya see what I did there? X) so I'm happy this is finally out there. :)**

**Hope you enjoy! And this is a one-shot, so no more will be following.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned TVD, then Damon and Elena wouldn't be sired, Stefan would get over himself, Klaus would stop killing people Jeremy wasn't a hunter & was with Bonnie, and Caroline and Tyler could love each other _without_****interuption. Oh, and Hayley wouldn't be a bitchy turncoat.**

* * *

Caroline Forbes didn't know how, when, or why, but somehow she'd always been pushed to second place.

Nothing she did truly matched up to Elena. Elena's long, straight brown hair always trumped Care's own curly, ash blonde and gold locks. Elena's endless dark eyes always drew more attention than Caroline's soft hazel ones. Elena's slim frame was more desired than Caroline's slightly stocky, curvy one. Elena always had two guys fighting over her. Elena might've lost her parents, but she had a strong family base.

Caroline was just left in the dust. She knew it wasn't something she had done to make her end up there, but it still hurt.

It hurt when Matt would kiss her, and when he hugged her afterwards, somehow Elena was always behind her. It hurt when Bonnie would pass up a movie date with her to go and console Elena. It hurt when Caroline had to work so hard to get noticed, and when she did, she ended up killed by Katherine, turned into a vampire, and then almost permanently gotten rid of by Damon. That didn't even last that long, because after what seemed to be a few hours, everyone was back to revolving around Elena.

Don't get Caroline wrong-Elena was one of her closest friends, and Care loved her like a sister.

It just ripped her to pieces, sometimes.

* * *

Tyler Lockwood didn't know how, when, or why, but somehow he was always been in first place.

He was the center of every party he went to, every classroom he sat down in, every single place he went, it was all Tylerthis and Tylerthat. Tyler didn't have a problem with it, but the pressure got to him occasionally. It took forever to get the respect that he truly wanted.

That was all he really wanted, in his soul. He wanted to earn something, and to cherish that thing, no matter what got in the way. He wanted to fight for something, and have the satisfaction of it instead of having things be thrown at him and placed in his lap.

Matt and Jeremy were his best bros in this whole supernatural thing, but a part of them would always remember old douche Tyler. He saw it in their eyes when they looked at him. Bonnie had found it in her heart to forgive, but never forgot. Elena accepted him, because that was just the person that she was, but Damon and Stefan were constantly, subconsciously on guard.

Tyler supposed it had something to do with the whole werewolf-versus-vampire thing, but he wasn't sure.

When it came down to it, Tyler felt alone-and so did Caroline.

That was why they fit together so perfectly, as constant and strong as the moon and the sun, Tyler being the moon and Caroline the sun, of course.

Caroline used to hate Tyler, with a passion that none of the crew had ever really experienced; well if you exclude Jeremy, but still. It took longer than forever for him to get in her good graces. The whole full moon thing just kept moving things along, and before Tyler knew it, he felt a curdling, burning feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he saw Caroline and Matt together. His eyes blazed whenever he saw Caroline, her mischievous, sunny smile, her brilliant eyes, her spunky style. His fists clenched when he saw how Matt was treating her, but for her, and only for her, he did nothing. He was in a situation almost as impossible as Damon was, but an infinitely more painful experience, if Tyler were to say.

When Matt broke up with her, it was all Tyler could do not to just go through the whole bloody process of turning again, just to get his hands on the bastard that had let Caroline Forbes go.

At that point, Caroline was truly and completely broken. Something in her gave way, and to not collapse and cry with Tyler on that couch took everything in her.

"Thank you, Caroline, for taking care of me."

Tyler's eyes had softened, going from blocky, bad tasting, angry unsweetened chocolate to calm, melted, creamy hot chocolate when Caroline had told him. He didn't look at her the way most people did at that point in their relationship. When Tyler looked at Caroline, it was the look of a man who'd found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It was the look of a man whose entire life was grounded by every look, every smile, every motion that his girl made. Tyler's entire being was dedicated to loving Caroline, and it showed.

Hell, even Elena noticed it.

Holding Care in his arms that night, with him naked and hurting, and her bleary eyed and exhausted, Tyler held his world in his arms. He smoothed a hand through the twirling, ash blonde locks with all the reverence of a man meeting his chosen deity. His thumb brushed Care's cheek with the kind of gentleness that men usually employed when handling something delicate. Something in him knew, that at that point, Caroline Forbes was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Caroline wasn't so easy.

She felt it happening-the way that she gravitated toward the tall, tan werewolf whenever he was in the vicinity. She felt the way their eyes seemed to hold and connect more and more often, the flickering images of Tyler at the corner of her eyelids when she kissed Matt. Matt was the last thing holding her back, back then, that she was sure of. If it hadn't been for Matt, and the confusing feelings he spurred up whenever he was in the room, even after they broke up, than Caroline would've been with Tyler.

And then he kissed her, and her senses were so overwhelmed and full to bursting with sparkles and glimmers, and just sunlight and then-

It finally clicked for Caroline.

No matter what supernatural powers and restrictions and rules were put on them, Tyler had always found a way to be there for her. He was her constant, her rock, her comfort. Whenever Tyler folded Caroline into his arms, everything was okay. She had always been his first choice.  
Tyler was Caroline's last place, he realized after they had truly gotten down and dirty at Elena's birthday party. She hadn't chosen him first. She'd had countless others before coming to him, but that knowledge, that feeling that told him that he'd earned his way into her heart, and Caroline had resisted him with everything in her before giving in, that gave him a special feeling. He'd finally found it. That one thing worth fighting for, and now he was going to keep it. Care had always been Tyler's choice, and nothing that Elena did was going to change that, and that made it right in her world.

Tyler would always put her first, because He. Was. Her. Everything, and vice versa.

Caroline and Tyler were meant to be-it just took a hell of a lot to convince them of it.


End file.
